11 Best Tenant Screening Services 2019

Tenant screening services are used by landlords, property managers, and realtors to assess potential tenants and perform tenant background checks. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and then reviewed them based on pricing and features. The best option is going to be affordable and offer the most benefits for the price.

Top 11 Tenant Screening Services

How We Determined the Best Tenant Screening Services

Landlords, investors, and real estate agents are all looking for online tools to screen prospective tenants efficiently. Specifically, they look for tenant screening services that can run background checks, check previous landlord history, and pull credit reports. Further, the top services need to be national so they can service the widest customer base.

We looked at the following criteria to determine the top tenant screening services:

• Pricing: Screens prospective tenants as an a la carte service or part of a larger plan
• Criminal background checks: Shows the tenants’ past convictions in one or multiple states
• Landlord, residence & eviction history: Provides addresses and time frames for the tenants’ residence history and whether an eviction was filed
• Income & employment verification: Verifies the tenants’ employment and their income to see if they can afford to rent your unit
• Unique features: Sets each company apart and gives them a competitive edge
• Customer service: Offers landlord support with things like online chat, email and dedicated phone lines
• Customer reviews: Perceived positively by the public and landlords who use the service

Based on the criteria above, our recommendation for the best overall tenant screening service is MyRental. It offers different plans for a variety of screening needs at fair prices. Its premium plan offers the most bang for your buck at $29.99 and includes background checks, credit checks, income verifications, and adverse action letters.

MyRental: Best Overall Tenant Screening Service

MyRental offers a well-rounded set of plans at affordable prices. That makes it good for budget-conscious landlords. This is the only tenant screening service that automatically generates Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)-compliant adverse action letters if the applicant is denied. Plans start at $19.99 and provide more comprehensive reporting than RentPrep or LeaseRunner at the same tiers.

MyRental Pricing & Features

MyRental Basic Plan

The Basic plan is $19.99 and covers previous address and eviction history, multistate criminal background check, including sex offender registries and federal terrorist watch list reporting. That pricing does not include credit reporting or income verification, which are both available at the next tier. Court records are utilized to search for failure to pay rent notices, judgment for rent and evictions.

MyRental Premium Plan

The Premium plan is $29.99 and adds in credit reporting, income and employment verification, and the option to have tenants pay for their own screening. MyRental currently gets its credit reporting from TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting agencies. It’s a soft pull, so it won’t ding applicants’ credit scores. Raw credit data is presented in the form of a reader-friendly risk score to help you discern the applicant’s potential.

MyRental Premium Plus Plan

The Premium Plus plan is $34.99 and has all the features of the lower level plans with the addition of comparing applicant scores to local averages and allowing you to see other landlord’s acceptance rate for tenants with scores like your applicant.

MyRental Unique Features

One unique feature of MyRental for tenant screening is that landlords can get adverse action letters automatically if an applicant is turned down. That is something no other provider offers and means that the landlord or manager doesn’t have to create those letters manually and will know they are FCRA-compliant.

MyRental Customer Service

MyRental offers online customer support through a live online chat and is available Monday through Saturday for client services. If you choose to sign up for a plan, you will be able to email customer service with questions from your account as well.

What MyRental Is Missing

MyRental like many of our providers, it is missing a live FCRA-certified tenant screener to help with background screening properly. However, it does offer an adverse action letter that is FCRA-compliant. If you want personal guidance to help you interpret a tenant screening, you should go with RentPrep or National Tenant Network.

MyRental Customer Reviews

MyRental has generally positive customer reviews. Landlords typically feel the software is easy to use and reporting is fast. There were some dated individual complaints regarding a technical issue at the Better Business Bureau (BBB), but most landlords love MyRental as a tenant screening service.

Where to Get MyRental

You can sign-up for MyRental online and start screening tenants within a few minutes, which makes it a convenient tenant screening option. Check it out to determine who your tenants are and what their payment history has been before you rent a unit to them. Get started for as little as $19.99.

Visit MyRental

RentPrep: Best Tenant Screening Service for Individual Guidance

RentPrep, like National Tenant Network, stands out because it utilizes certified agents to assist with interpreting tenant background checks, at no additional charge. Even with live screeners, its pricing is comparable to the others, ranging from $18.95 to $35. This service is right for landlords who appreciate a human touch.

RentPrep Pricing & Features

RentPrep Basic Plan

This is the lowest price of any provider at $18.95. However, it’s a fairly robust offering with Social Security number verification, address history, national eviction data, and information on judgments, liens, and bankruptcies. Employment verification and criminal history are not provided with this plan and, if credit reporting is desired, it’s an additional $9.95.

RentPrep Pro Plan

This plan is $22.95 and adds criminal background reporting that includes checking sex offender registries and Homeland Security watches. However, credit reporting is an additional $9.95 on top of that.

RentPrep Platinum Plan

The Platinum plan costs $34.95 and adds telephone verification of current address, employer, and income. Credit reports are available at an additional cost. With the Platinum plan, live screeners will call landlords to verify current and prior addresses and the nature of the applicant’s tenancy. Information is reasonably extensive including obtaining answers to questions from landlords like “Would you rent to the applicant again?”

RentPrep Smart Move Plan

This plan is $35. Full credit reporting is part of that plan but, ironically, users lose the judgments and liens search and each of the telephone-initiated verifications. This is the only plan where there’s an option for the applicant to pay. Like MyRental, RentPrep also uses TransUnion for its credit reporting. FICO scores are provided in addition to basic information from the TransUnion report to help readers understand the information. Credit reports will be a hard pull if landlord initiated but a soft pull if the tenant pays and initiates the screening.

RentPrep Unique Features

One unique feature of RentPrep is they offer live screeners, so someone is calling to verify a piece of information, rather than relying on the Internet. Its other unique feature is that it has a no-nonsense approach to Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliance. It is the one company that seems to give prominence to knowing the laws and taking proactive measures to stay within them. That equates to keeping landlords and property managers in compliance and out of trouble.

Customer Service at RentPrep

You can chat with a RentPrep tenant screener online for general questions. It also has a dedicated customer service line at 888-877-8501. Its certified tenant screeners are located in its New York office.

What’s Missing With RentPrep

Automatically generated adverse action letters are not available with RentPrep, but clients do have access to FCRA-compliant templates to use. If you want an automatic adverse action letter, then we recommend you use MyRental.

RentPrep Customer Reviews

RentPrep customer reviews are generally positive, RentPrep users report customer service is excellent, and the staff is good about answering landlord questions. However, there was one incident of negative customer service. Landlords overall are enjoying its services and say its online content is a helpful resource.

Where to Get RentPrep

You can get started with RentPrep online and start screening tenants in just a few minutes. It prides itself on using humans to assist in its tenant screening services. If this is important to you, contact the company today to start screening your tenants for as low as $18.99.

Visit RentPrep

LeaseRunner: Most Flexible Tenant Screening Service

LeaseRunner is not plan-based. Instead, it offers an a la carte menu where you pick and choose the reports you want. The value stems from that flexibility. Each of LeaseRunner’s individual reports is more rigorous than the equivalent provided by the other screening services. However, if you request all the possible reports, LeaseRunner comes in at the most expensive. LeaseRunner is right for landlords who want to choose from a list of screening services.

LeaseRunner Pricing & Features

LeaseRunner pricing is not plan-based. Instead, it’s all a la carte and landlords can select what reports they want to utilize. It’s important to note that if every package report was chosen, the total cost would be $57 per applicant, making LeaseRunner the most expensive. Depending on the need, single reporting can make this the least expensive option.

The pricing structure for LeaseRunner by the report is as follows:

• Credit report: $20, which is provided by Experian and includes previous address verification along with current employer verification
• Criminal report: $15, which covers all 50 states, sex offender registries, and federal terrorist watch lists
• Financial report: $10, which provides bank account information including balances, deposit, and withdrawal information that can aid in income verification and in determining whether the applicant can afford your rent
• Eviction report: $12, which is nationwide and will even indicate if property damage judgments were filed

LeaseRunner offers a la carte reports that are a part of a large suite of offerings that include everything from rental applications to online rent collection. In essence, the tenant-screening tools are just a part of a larger property management software package that’s helpful for both new and experienced landlords. It doesn’t offer plans like MyRental, RentPrep, and SmartMove.

LeaseRunner Credit Reporting Methods

LeaseRunner uses Experian for its credit reporting. The applicant authorizes the screening, so it’s considered a soft pull. LeaseRunner’s reporting utilizes VantageScore 3.0, which is a competitor to the FICO scoring system and intended to provide more useful data than raw credit file information. LeaseRunner does not generate adverse action letters automatically but does supply FCRA-compliant templates for clients to use.

LeaseRunner Criminal Background Checks

LeaseRunner’s criminal background report provides criminal records from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Prison records, watch lists, sex offender information, parole and probation records, and terror watch list reporting make its criminal background reporting among the most robust of all the providers.

LeaseRunner Landlord, Prior Residence & Eviction Checks

LeaseRunner provides a nationwide search for up to 10 prior addresses and up to seven years of information with the eviction report option. Court actions, judgments, and even property damage claims are all tracked. Because LeaseRunner is not plan-based and reports are ordered individually, ancillary information, such as Social Security number verification or bank account data, are only available with the purchase of additional reports.

LeaseRunner Income & Employment Verifications

LeaseRunner offers the Financial Profile report, which contains the tenants’ bank balances, deposits, and withdrawals to help develop a profile of what the applicant’s income appears to be. Credit reporting also provides information, such as current and previous employer and sources of income.

LeaseRunner Unique Features

One unique feature of LeaseRunner for tenant screening is you don’t have to sign up for a subscription. Instead, you can choose just one type of screening that you want, pay for it and be finished. For example, you may not require a credit check and may want a criminal background check or vice versa. It also offers online tenant applications, similar to TurboTenant.

LeaseRunner Customer Service

If you have immediate questions, you can call LeaseRunner’s customer service or email them directly. Its customer service team is based in Colorado and available Monday to Friday. They can also be reached via email directly from the site.

What LeaseRunner Is Missing

LeaseRunner is missing the affordability of some of the other tenant screening services. If you want all of its tenant screening services, it will cost you $57, which is much more than MyRental’s top cost of $34.99. If you’re looking for multiple services, it’s more economical to choose another service like MyRental or SmartMove.

LeaseRunner Customer Reviews

LeaseRunner has positive customer reviews. Landlords are saying that the staff is professional and using its products gives them peace of mind with credit and background checks. There have been a few instances of complaints regarding payment timing for landlords using its online payment option but LeaseRunner has updated its software to create a faster funding time, and there were no complaints regarding its screening services.

Where to Get LeaseRunner

Once you’ve signed up for LeaseRunner online, you’ll receive an email confirming your subscription immediately. You can start screening tenants online within a few minutes of subscribing.

Visit LeaseRunner

TurboTenant: Best All-in-One Platform for Landlords

TurboTenant is a tenant screening service with a platform that allows for rental postings. Unlike MyRental, TurboTenant doesn’t have plan packages from which to choose. Instead, there is a $35 to $45 fee per tenant application. This site is right for landlords, real estate agents, and property managers who want to screen applicants and post their listings.

TurboTenant Pricing & Features

The site itself is free to sign up and free to post your rental listings, but there’s a charge for each screening. The tenant or the landlord can pay the screening fee directly on the site. If the tenants pay their own application fee, the service is essentially free for the landlord.

TurboTenant pricing breaks down as follows:

• $35 per tenant screening, which includes a credit report and criminal background check
• $45 per tenant screening if you want an eviction report included with the credit and criminal background checks

TurboTenant is a platform for landlords, property managers and real estate agents to use to screen tenants and market their rental listings. Like NTR and LR, LeaseRunner, all features are a la carte. One of its best features is that you can have the tenant fill out the application online and pay for the screening.

TurboTenant Credit Reporting Methods

TurboTenant uses a soft credit pull method, so it doesn’t impact the tenants’ FICO score. The report lists the tenants’ FICO score and the factors that are included in determining the score like the number of accounts and payment history. The company uses TransUnion to run the tenants’ credit report.

TurboTenant Criminal Background Checks

Unlike National Tenant Network, it conducts a comprehensive and nationwide background check for each tenant. It’s included automatically in the tenant screening fee, which appears underneath the credit report.

TurboTenant Landlord, Prior Residence & Eviction Checks

TurboTenant only includes an eviction report if you choose the $45 tenant screening option. Otherwise, an eviction check isn’t included. The $35 option includes the tenants’ prior residence and public records to show if any landlord-tenant related cases are outstanding.

TurboTenant Income & Employment Verifications

This is where TurboTenant falls short. It doesn’t provide any type of income verification. It recommends that you verify the income and current employment with the tenants’ employer. It doesn’t offer live screeners, so it’s up to you to call the tenants’ employers, collect pay stubs, and so on.

TurboTenant Unique Features

One unique feature of TurboTenant for tenant screening is it’s not just a tenant screening service. You can use it to post your rental listings and create flyers for your rental units. You can also have the tenant fill out the application on its site directly.

Customer Service at TurboTenant

TurboTenant has the most ways to contact customer support out of all six of the tenant screening services. You click on a button for a live chat to call its Colorado-based customer support team or to email them. You can also look at its FAQ forum.

What’s Missing With TurboTenant

TurboTenant is missing tiers or plans that offer different services for one fee. Everything with TurboTenant is a la carte, so if you want to sign up for a tiered plan, then you’re better off choosing MyRental, RentPrep or SmartMove.

TurboTenant Customer Reviews

TurboTenant has generally positive customer reviews. Landlords are saying the software enables them to find great tenants. Some users complained the customer service team is difficult to contact directly by phone and fails to offer effective solutions. However, most landlords are saying positive things and like the ability to screen tenants and market property listings.

Where to Get TurboTenant

Start collecting rental applications and screening your tenants today. With TurboTenant you only need to buy what you need to lease your properties with confidence. You can join TurboTenant online for free.

Visit TurboTenant

National Tenant Network: Best Tenant Screening Service With a Point System

National Tenant Network is a tenant screening service, similar to LeaseRunner, with no plan levels. The company screens the tenant and assigns a score from zero to 100 based on their debt, income, credit report and eviction history. They are right for landlords who want tenant recommendations without the guesswork.

National Tenant Network Pricing & Features

National Tenant Network is similar to LeaseRunner because it offers a la carte services. You pay a one-time subscription fee of 35, and then pay for just the services that you need each time you want to use them. However, if you own multiple properties, you can call for a package deal.

National Tenant’s pricing structure is as follows:

• One-time fee: $35 to subscribe
• Decision point: $22 per search, which gives you an overall score from zero to 100 and rental analysis results based on the tenants’ income and credit profile
• Tenant performance report: $10 per search, which verifies the tenants’ Social Security numbers and shows any history of lease violations
• County criminal search: $25 per search
• Multistate criminal search: $35 per search

National Tenant Network is different than the other five tenant screening services because its features don’t include a credit report. Instead, it provides a score from zero to 100, which is based on comprehensive tenant information including criminal background, income verification, and eviction checks. It analyzes the same data as the other top screeners but presents it in a scored format with a recommendation to accept the tenants or to deny them. National Tenant Network offers the following features.

National Tenant Network Credit Reporting Methods

National Tenant Network doesn’t use traditional credit reporting methods. You don’t see the tenants’ credit report. Instead, you see a score from one to 100, and then you see a recommendation to approve them or deny them based off of the information in the report. You also have access to a report saying how much they owe in certain categories, such as student loans, credit cards and medical bills. It doesn’t send out an adverse action letter but does provide the landlord with a template to use.

National Tenant Network Criminal Background Checks

It offers two types of criminal background checks. The first is the county in which the tenant resides in and the second is a more comprehensive background check that spans multiple states. These records are reviewed by trained staff to ensure an identity match.

National Tenant Network Landlord, Prior Residence & Eviction Checks

It offers verification services by its trained staff, so someone will call and verify their past residences, previous landlords, and rental payment history, if applicable. It also pulls eviction records on each tenant by scouring through the landlord-tenant and eviction court records and will provide the case’s date, amount owed, and outcome.

National Tenant Network Income & Employment Verifications

National Tenant Network also offer verification services to verify the tenants’ current and previous employers as well as past and present income. If you want to purchase verification services as a package, you need to contact the company directly.

National Tenant Network Unique Features

One unique feature of National tenant Network for tenant screening is unlike the other five tenant screening services as you don’t see the tenants’ credit report. Instead, you receive a score from one to 100, based on the tenants’ overall financial standing, including their income, eviction history, and credit history. The report lists the score and recommends whether you should accept the tenant or not. The report is easy to read provides an overall picture of the tenant upfront before you read their background.

National Tenant Network Customer Service

National Tenant Network has 35 regional offices and can be contacted directly through the site. It also has a list of phone numbers for each office. For more general questions, you can contact the company through the site or look under the FAQs section.

What National Tenant Network Is Missing

National Tenant Network is missing a credit report on each tenant. Unlike MyRental and SmartMove, it doesn’t give you an option of plans to choose from, and you don’t have access to the tenants’ actual FICO scores.

National Tenant Network Customer Reviews

National Tenant Network has generally positive reviews from landlords and holds an A+ rating from the BBB. The company does have some complaints from tenants who have been screening by the company, although this is to be expected. Overall, however, National Tenant Network is well-established as a leading tenant screening service, and public perception of the company is positive.

Where to Find National Tenant Network

You can easily find National Tenant Network online where you can sign up for the service, and start screening tenants within a few minutes. Once the screening is finished, you will receive an emailed copy of the report for your records or in case you need to share it with the property owner.

Visit National Tenant Network

SmartMove: Best Direct Tenant Screening From a Credit Bureau

SmartMove is a superb alternative to MyRental. It offers three different tiered plans with prices ranging from $25 to $40 per applicant. SmartMove also offers an additional feature with all of its plans called a credit-based resident score, which gives an overall tenant score developed by TransUnion. SmartMove is ideal for landlords and property managers who trust the company due to its affiliation with TransUnion or who want an alternative to MyRental.

SmartMove Pricing & Features

SmartMove SmartCheck Basic Plan

The SmartCheck Basic plan is $25 per applicant and gives a credit based resident score along with a recommendation by TransUnion of whether or not you should accept the applicant. This plan also gives you a nationwide criminal background check but doesn’t give a full credit report.

SmartMove SmartCheck Basic Plus Plan

The SmartCheck Basic Plus plan is $38 per applicant. Along with the features of the Basic plan, the Basic Plus plan offers full credit reporting on each tenant based on data from TransUnion. The credit report is a soft pull on the tenants’ credit reports since the tenants are required to authorize it. This plan also offers landlord, prior residence and eviction checks, which includes a national eviction report. This is ideal if you have a tenant who has moved around frequently.

SmartMove SmartCheck Premium Plan

The SmartCheck Premium plan is the top plan and is priced at $40 per applicant. In addition to the offerings of the other two plans, it also offers something called “Income Insights.” These are additional verifications that SmartMove does to see if the tenants’ income is what they are reporting it is. It will review online records, financial behavior, and all income sources, and then will make a recommendation if the tenant should provide additional proof of income.

SmartMove Unique Features

One unique feature of SmartMove for tenant screening is the applicant score feature. It’s a score given to each applicant from TransUnion based on an analysis of more than 500,000 resident records. Similar to National Tenant Network, it gives the property manager or landlord a recommendation to accept the tenants or deny them.

Customer Service at SmartMove

SmartMove doesn’t offer telephone support. Instead, it asks landlords to complete a contact form online and wait for their response. In addition, it offers a FAQs section for landlords to use as a resource.

What SmartMove Is Missing

A landlord or property manager can’t screen the tenants themselves on SmartMove. Instead, they enter all the necessary information and have the option of paying the fee. Then, the tenants have to enter their own personal information to authorize the tenants’ criminal and credit reports. This can be time-consuming if the tenant doesn’t do this promptly.

SmartMove Customer Reviews

SmartMove generally has positive customer reviews. This is especially true among landlords who want to work directly with TransUnion, an authority in credit reporting. We didn’t find any negative landlord comments, but this may not be the best product if you are looking to stay in control of the screening process with tenants being in charge of the report timing.

Where to Find SmartMove

You can sign up for SmartMove online and start screening tenants within a few minutes, which is common among all six of the top tenant screening services. All of SmartMove’s credit reporting data is provided directly by TransUnion.

Visit SmartMove

TenantAlert!: Best Tenant Screening Service With Available Rent-loss Coverage

TenantAlert! is best for landlords looking for rent-loss coverage, affordable basic screening services and those willing to pay a little more for comprehensive packages. It offers four landlord packages that start at $24.95 and go up to $49.95. TenantAlert allows for tenant or landlord payments, giving landlords free tenant screening options.

TenantAlert! Pricing & Features

TenantAlert! Basic Plan

The Basic plan is $24.95 and covers previous address and tenant history, credit report, credit score, and a TeleCheck verification which verifies any bad check history. This is a good value, but if you want an eviction history, you’ll need to upgrade to its plus package.

TenantAlert! Plus Plan

The Plus plan adds a statewide eviction report, which includes data collected from county-level courts when a judgment for possession of the property is filed, and there is no money awarded, information not included on credit reports and a lease guarantee analyzer, which identifies tenants’ eligibility for rent-loss coverage. The plan price is $29.95.

TenantAlert! Pro Plan

The Pro plan is $39.95 and includes all of the above features plus a terrorist and sex offender search. The Pro plan also includes a federal search which searches multiple databases for offenders of crimes of violence, children, cyber, murder, white collar, most wanted lists, and more.

TenantAlert! Premier Plan

The premier plan is $49.95 and is TenantAlert!’s most comprehensive plan. It includes the entire suite of searches available for all their other products plus a Social Security fraud search. This background check searches more than 19 billion records to verify potentially fraudulent identities, validate the prospective tenants’ Social Security numbers and reduce identity theft exposure.

TenantAlert! Unique Features

One unique feature of TenantAlert! is the company offers a Lease Guarantee analyzer, which identifies tenants eligible for rent-loss coverage. Lease Guarantee provides coverage to landlords for lost rent, damages, and legal fees ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 for a fee of $299 a year.

Customer Service at TenantAlert!

TenantAlert! offers live telephone support Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time and you can email them as well at info@tenantalert.com.

What’s Missing With TenantAlert!

TenantAlert! is missing support from an FCRA-certified screener, an income verification option, and online chat support, something you will get from RentPrep. However, it does pride themselves on having a live support staff available for service five days a week.

TenantAlert! Customer Reviews

TenantAlert! public perception seems to be very good in general with an A+ rating from the BBB. Landlords seem to like its lease guarantee product and live support. However, there were some complaints regarding trouble opening reports that seemed to be resolved. Overall, however, TenantAlert! is a leading tenant screening service and public perception of the company is positive.

Where to Get TenantAlert!

You can sign-up for TenantAlert! online and start screening tenants within a few minutes, which makes it a convenient tenant screening option. Check it out to determine your tenants’ background, payment history, and if they qualify for TenantAlert’s rent coverage.

Visit TenantAlert!

Avail: Best Screening Service With Available Property Management

Avail offers landlords three tenant screening plans. Like our other providers that offer plans, each plan provides a varying degree of verifications and checks. Unlike many of our included companies, Avail also offers full-service property management. Avail’s basic tenant screening service is free.

Avail Pricing & Features

Avail Rental Profile

The Rental Profile product at Avail allows landlords to screen tenants’ basic information. The service verifies the tenants’ rental history, employment history, and income. This basic service is free for landlords.

Avail Credit Plus

The Credit Plus product provides landlords with midlevel verification, adding a TransUnion credit score, credit history, and adverse items history. This is a good product for landlords wanting to add credit verification to their tenant screening. Credit Plus is available for $25 per applicant.

Avail Full Screening

Full Screening from Avail includes all checks and verifications included in their basic and mid-level report with the addition of a nationwide criminal-, terror list-, and sex offender checks as well as previous eviction reports.

Avail Unique Features

One unique feature of Avail for tenant screening is landlords can sign up for a monthly membership that allows you to manage one unit rental for free and includes there Full Screening product plus many other property management tools like online rent payment.

Avail Customer Service

Avail offers online support through its website, you can email customer support with questions, or read through its frequently asked questions section. It is also available from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central time seven days a week via phone.

What Avail Is Missing

While Avail offers an a la carte tenant screening menu, it may not be the best option for landlords looking for only a report. Its best feature is the ability to utilize their online property management service that includes listing, screening, leases, online payments, and maintenance.

Avail Customer Reviews

Avail has generally positive customer reviews. This is especially true among landlords who live away from their rental properties. There have been a few instances of complaints regarding customers, most often related customer service. However, landlords typically love Avail as an a la carte tenant screening service.

Where to Get Avail

You can sign-up for Avail online and start screening tenants within a few minutes, which makes it a convenient tenant screening option. Check it out to determine who your tenants are and what their payment history has been before you rent a unit to them. Get started for free or upgrade to their Credit Plus product for $25.

Visit Avail

Instantbackgroundchecks.us: Best Service With Live Customer Support and a la carte Reports.

Instantbackgroundchecks.us has been in business since 1982. Similar to LeaseRunner, it offers an a la carte menu starting at $19.95 for credit checks but with no subscription fee. It is good for landlords that want the ability to speak with live staff and compliant single reports with a 24-hour turnaround.

Instantbackgroundcheck.us Pricing & Features

A la Carte Menu at Instantbackgroundcheck.us

Instantbackgroundcheck.us sign up is free and landlord’s pay per report or bundle, depending on their needs. A credit report with FICO score is only $19.95, and nationwide criminal searches that include a state check are $20.95. It also offers bundled services, but they are not as comprehensive at MyRental or RentPrep.

Tiered Tenant Screening Pricing is as follows:

Instantbackgroundcheck.us Basic Bundle Plan

The Basic bundle is $22.95 and provides landlords with a full credit report, prior residence checks, and a previous eviction report. This package is good for landlords who want basic tenant screening at an affordable price.

Instantbackgroundcheck.us Midlevel Bundle

The midlevel bundle includes a credit report and a national criminal search for $28.95, but you’ll need their highest level plan to see the applicant’s previous eviction history.

Instantbackgroundcheck.us Premium Bundle

The Premium bundle is $29.95 and includes the credit report, national criminal search and the applicant’s previous residence and eviction report giving the most comprehensive reporting option.

Instantbackgroundcheck.us Unique Features

One unique feature of Instantbackgroundcheck.us is its tenant verification records are collected in more than 8,000 municipal, county, state, and federal courthouses nationwide and more than 30 years’ experience they have one of the United States’ largest databases.

Customer Service at Instantbackgroundcheck.us

Instantbackgroundchecks.us offers an email contact us form on their website and has a dedicated support number for calls. You can also email customer service at info@instantbackgroundchecks.us with questions.

What’s Missing With Instantbackgroundcheck.us

Instantbackgroundchecks.us is missing income verification services. While knowing the tenants’ background and payment history is very important, knowing if the applicant can afford your property is valuable as well. Having the option to know both helps you make a better decision. If you are looking for income verification packages at $30 or less, look at MyRental.

Instantbackgrouncheck.us Customer Reviews

Instandtbackgroundcheck.us has excellent customer reviews and a B+ rating from the BBB. Landlords seem to like the experience of the staff and highly recommend its services. There were no negative comments or reviews, but landlords who want income verification may want to look at MyRental.

Where to Get Instantbackgroundchecks.us

You can sign-up for Instantbackgroundchecks.us online and start screening tenants within a few minutes, which makes it a convenient tenant screening option. Check it out online to determine who your tenants are and what their payment history has been in just a few minutes.

Visit Instantbackgroundchecks.us

E-Renter: Most Comprehensive Entry-level Tenant Background Check

E-Renter offers a robust basic level tenant screening product. Starting at just $19.95, its basic plan offers more than RentPrep or MyRental’s same tier plans. It is good for landlords who are budget-conscious, want robust features, and accept checks. This is the only tenant screening service offering landlord’s Rent Check Advisor.

E-Renter Pricing & Features

E-Renter Basic Plan

The Basic plan is $19.95 and covers Social Security number validation, Social Security death index check, Office of Foreign Assets Control/Patriot Act Search, evictions, bankruptcies, liens and judgments, criminal records search, and a sex offender search.

E-Renter Mid-Level Plan

The Premium plan includes all of the background searches in the basic plan and adds in credit reporting. It is priced at $29.95 plus there is a $1.99 fee charged to the prospective tenant.

E-Renter Premium Plan

The Premium plan is $34.95 plus a $1.99 fee charged to the tenant. This is in line with MyRental but doesn’t offer the adverse action letter. As E-Renter’s most comprehensive plan, it includes the tenants’ previous addresses, identity, and phone number verification, and Rent Check Advisor is its software that checks tenants check writing patterns and history and performs a risk analysis.

E-Renter Unique Features

One unique feature of E-Renter is the company offers Rent Check Advisor, which recommends with a high rate of accuracy whether or not you should accept rent checks from a potential tenant. Helping you make good decisions about if the tenant can afford your property.

Customer Service at E-Renter

E-Renter offers customer support Monday to Friday or by emailing them directly from its site. There is also a dedicated line for tenants disputing background check findings.

What’s Missing With E-Renter

E-Renter is missing credit reporting in its basic plan level. However, their basic plan offers the most comprehensive checks for $19.95. Although it does offer telephone calls during working hours, online chat would be a nice additional feature.

E-Renter Customer Reviews

E-Renter has generally positive customer reviews especially from landlords who use their rent check feature. There have been a few instances of complaints regarding customers, most often related to inaccurate reports. However, landlords are generally happy with E-Renter’s tenant screening service.

Where to Get E-Renter Tenant Screening Services

You can sign-up for E-Renter online and start screening tenants within a few minutes, which makes it a convenient tenant screening option. Check it out to determine who your tenants are quickly and what their payment history has been before you rent a unit to them.

Visit E-Renter

Best Overall New Tenant Screening Service: Naborly

Naborly offers the only free unlimited tenant background and screening service out of all of our providers. They are a fairly new company and, rather than charging for its tenant screening services, it makes money by providing approved tenants the option to purchase renters’ insurance. It provides credit reports and criminal background reports.

Naborly Pricing & Features

Naborly Basic Plan

The Basic plan is free in the U.S. The plan comes with Equifax Report & Score, identity verification, employment and income verification, bankruptcy and lien search, previous address verification, employment stability analysis, pet liability analysis, property suitability analysis, projected tenancy outcomes, rent-to-income ratio and debt-to-income ratio helping landlords make an informed decision.

Naborly Pro Plan

The Pro plan is also free and includes all basic screening, federal-level criminal search, state-level criminal search, county-level criminal search, municipal criminal search, driving records, sex offenders’ registry check, FBI most wanted search, Interpol database search, terrorist watchlist check, and public court record check.

Naborly Unique Features

One unique feature of Naborly is the screening services are free to landlords and tenants. The company generates income from providing renters’ insurance to approved tenants. That is something no other provider offers and means that the landlord can save time and money by using this software.

Customer Service at Naborly

Naborly offers a dedicated customer support number from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time Monday through Friday. In addition, you can email the provider for more information about its services.

What’s Missing With Naborly

Naborly is a fairly new company and doesn’t offer a live FCRA-certified screener like RentPrep. However, by offering free tenant screening for landlords since its launch in early 2016, Naborly has become a dominant player in the North American with relationships with thousands of landlords and property management firms.

Naborly Customer Reviews

Naborly has generally positive landlord customer reviews. Both new and experienced landlords say they love the free service and that its insurance products are innovative. We didn’t find any landlord complaints. Overall, Naborly is perceived to offer great products for landlords at no cost.

Where to Get Naborly Tenant Screening Service

You can sign up for Naborly online in just a few minutes. Once signed up you will have access to Naborly’s online rental application that you can send to a prospective tenant to start screening for free.

Visit Naborly

The Bottom Line

Tenant screening services help landlords, real estate agents and property management firms run credit reports, conduct background, and eviction checks as well as verify employment and income. This helps you assess whether applicants are qualified to rent a house or an apartment. The best tenant screening service will depend on your unique needs.

If you’re looking for a full-service tenant screening service, check out MyRental. It’s a great service for landlords who want an affordable and easy to use screening service with automatic adverse letters mailed to declined tenants, helping you stay in compliance, and make an informed decision as a landlord. Prices start at just $19.99.

Visit MyRental